I thought I would never ever see a more horrifying example of addiction than “Grease’s” Jeff Conaway on “Celebrity Rehab, ” vacillating between mindlessly drooling on himself and screaming like a banshee at no one in particular while withdrawing from opiates. Then I tuned in to “Celebrity Rehab Presents: Sober House,” “Celebrity Rehab’s” younger sibling, and watched with disbelief as former Guns ‘ n ‘ Roses drummer, and “Celebrity Rehab 2″ alumnus, Steven Adler flailed around the titular “sober living” facility, glassy-eyed one moment, then falling into a stupor the next, after sneaking heroin into the abode.
Named after the halfway house to which recovering addicts move after completing a stint in a residential rehabilitation program to begin to reintegrate themselves into a world full of temptations, the show, like “Celebrity Rehab” provides a disturbingly real look at addiction and the people in its grip. In addition to Adler, “Celebrity Rehab” alumni Rodney King (yes, that Rodney King), model Amber Smith, “American Idol’s” Nikki McKibbin, Crazytown’s Seth “Shifty” Binzer and ex-porn star and one-time California gubernatorial candidate Mary Carey inhabit the house. (Andy Dick will be moving in later this season to help battle his much publicized addictions as well.) Model and actress Jennifer Gimenez, a recovering addict herself, manages the house with the aid of Dr. Drew Pinsky’s team.
This show is an absolute gem tucked in between such frivolous fare as “Real Chance at Love” and “I Love Money.” VH1 and Dr. Drew have created possibly the world’s most effective “don’t do drugs” PSA with the two series. That might be a bit of an exaggeration, but everyone I talk to about the show finds it extremely compelling and disturbing. The actions of the participants on the show don’t just belie the glamour of the Hollywood lifestyle, they fully expose the baseness of addiction.
Remarkably, it’s not just the unbelievable behaviors of these celebrities that draws the viewer in but the absolute compassion that Dr. Drew and his colleagues show these addicts; celebrity addicts whose situation the rest of us might find titillating or pitiable or both.
“Sober House” airs Thursday nights on VH1 at 10:00 p.m.
posted February 14, 2009 at 3:55 am
as an alcoholic in recovery i thought my life was screwed up. after being sober for 191/2 years i started to drink again. what they said about picking up where you left off it’s true. when they said you will alienate your family, they were correct. when they told me i could wind up in hospitals (6 times) twice for bleeding esophagus and blacked out or just sedated like nothing else some how lost 3 days the first time and5 days the next i didn’t believe them. when they told me i may end up in jail i did when they said i could go to prison; how did they know? 16 months for violation of probation . they said i wouldlose my family they must have read my mail 1 brother still talks to me ,out 4 siblings one son doesn’t talk to me for the rukus i made in the hospital after my arrest. he works there. my daughter who stole from me and caused me to be this way?(am i serious) talks to me and lives in my house with my 2 grandchildren . how did they know all these things? why didn’t i believe them?the stories they told me why did i resist them(i’d been through this in 1985) why did i not see the signs i saw back then?as i sit here typing this i am really cleansing my spirit or whatever. the one thing that keeps popping into my head the lasthour what did they get out of lying to me in 2004. what reason did they lie?you know what? they didn’t lie they told the truth and i wouldnt listen. i’ll listen now
posted September 21, 2009 at 11:06 pm
Meet us at the beach for a open meeting in newport beach ca.
http://www.soberliving.com